Chris Becker

Last night saw the release of the latest US private jobs data which shocked with only a 33K increase over an expected 100K plus, which puts tonight’s NFP print into clear perspective and shows the employment market may not be as robust as Fed Chair Powell thinks.

A relatively calm session here in Asia with only slight movements in currency markets as the Australian dollar had a small blip after some disappointing retail sales numbers while share markets are absorbing the passing of the “End of the Empire” bill in the US senate.

Wall Street took a step back after the US Senate passed the Billionaire Tax Bonus Bill while the Trump regime waved off concerns that not even a single nation has done a trade deal coming up to the July 9th deadline.

The new financial year is seeing some calm return to Asian share markets with Japanese bourses pulling back amid tariff dramas with the Trump regime, while Yen is firming on solid manufacturing data from both China and Japan as we await the US ISM print later tonight.

Last night saw the end of the financial year and maybe the ending of the USD dominance in global finance as it had the worst yearly start since 1973, despite multiple undollar central banks cutting rates as safe havens like Swiss Franc, Yen and increasingly Euro and Yuan takeover from King Dollar.

The start of the new trading week is coinciding with the end of the month and for some, the financial year, which is leading to a lot of window dressing across risk markets in Asia.

Share markets in Asia are again failing to follow the ebullient mood on Wall Street with the latest industrial production numbers in China disappointing while Japanese core inflation numbers are still relatively high, giving the Nikkei a boost above the 40000 point level.

There’s no greater example of the disconnect of stock markets with economic reality with Wall Street surging overnight to almost historic highs on the back of a worsening Q1 GDP print and signs that Q2 will show the number 1 economy is in a full recession.

Equity markets outside of Japan in Asia are dragging their feet despite a weaker USD with the Trump regime putting more pressure on Fed Chair Powell not helping.